Waterfowl decoy motion system

ABSTRACT

A waterfowl decoy motion system comprising a multiplicity of movable decoys and several idler pulley assemblies that contain a pulley disposed upon a vertical shaft, and a retaining assembly disposed over the pulley and connected to the vertical shaft. The retaining assembly has a minimum cross sectional dimension greater than the diameter of the pulley.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of applicants' copendingpatent application Ser. No. 12/075,778, filed on Mar. 13, 2008.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

A waterfowl decoy motion system capable of moving a number of floatingwaterfowl decoys in various directions in a continuous manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Waterfowl decoy systems are well known to those skilled in the art. Byway of illustration, reference may be had to applicant's copendingpatent application Ser. No. 12/075,778, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. Referencealso may be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,311,425 (flying waterfowl decoysystem), 6,321,480 (self propelled waterfowl decoy), 6,339,893(waterfowl decoy with separately movable wings and feet), 6,408,559(animated waterfowl decoy apparatus), 6,412,209 (waterfowl decoy forselectively simulating feeding in water), 6,463,690 (steam jet propelledwaterfowl decoy), 6,487,811 (waterfowl decoy with self-retracting anchorline), 6,643,971 (waterfowl feeding decoy), 7,117,628 (self-rightingwaterfowl decoy with integrated anchor and locking mechanism), and thelike. The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents ishereby incorporated by reference into this specification.

By way of further illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,396 discloses anapparatus for traveling a floating waterfowl decoy continuously around apredetermined route adjacent a surface of a body of water, According toclaim 1 of this patent, this system comprises (a) a continuous loop offlexible line constructed of a material suitable for prolongedsubmersion in a body of water, (b) a plurality of line guides formovably supporting the continuous loop at a plurality of desiredpositions which define the predetermined route, (c) a plurality ofanchors, each of which is securely attached to a corresponding one ofthe plurality of line guides, for anchoring the line guides below thesurface of the body of water at the desired positions along the route,(d) drive means for applying a force to the loop to cause the loop tomove around the predetermined route, the drive means operable tomaintain continuous operation to continuously cycle the loop around theroute, and (e) a decoy tether attached to the loop for tethering a decoyto the loop. The entire disclosure of such United States patent ishereby incorporated by reference into this specification.

None of the prior art waterfowl decoy motion systems are entirelysatisfactory. In some of these systems that utilize a rubber belt, therubber belt often has a tendency to climb out of the idler pulleys andto relax to tension needed for proper operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved waterfowl decoymotion system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a waterfowl decoymotion system comprising a multiplicity of movable decoys and,operatively connected to said moveable decoys, idler pulley assembliesthat contain a pulley disposed upon a vertical shaft, and a retainingassembly disposed over the pulley and connected to the vertical shaft.The retaining assembly has a minimum cross sectional dimension greaterthan the diameter of the pulley

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention will be described by reference tothe enclosed drawings in which like numerals refer to like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a single drive waterfowl decoy motion system;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a double drive belt system;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a single drive system with a quadruple idlerassembly;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a single drive system with double idler pulleyassemblies;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view from the side of a drive motor assembly;

FIG. 6 is a partial side and bottom view of a double drive assembly;

FIG. 7A is a top view of a double drive assembly;

FIG. 7B is a front view of a double drive assembly;

FIG. 8 is a side and bottom view of an idler pulley assembly;

FIG. 8A is a top view of a retaining assembly used in the idler pulleyassembly of FIG. 8;

FIG. 8B is a side view of the retaining assembly of FIG. 8;

FIG. 9 is a side view of an idler pulley assembly in the transportposition;

FIG. 10 is a side and bottom view of a double idler pulley assembly;

FIG. 11 is a side and bottom view of a double idler pulley assembly inthe transport position;

FIG. 12 is a top view of a quadruple idler pulley assembly; and

FIGS. 13A and 13B are, respectively, a side and end view of a section ofthe drive belt which shows two methods of attaching the waterfowldecoys.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, there is provided animproved waterfowl decoy motion system that is portable and can beinstalled at a hunting site in approximately thirty minutes and removedin about half that time, thus rendering it useful to sportsmen huntingpublic areas and those who may wish to move to a different location inthe course of a day's outing. This preferred device, in one embodimentthereof, is comprised of an electric gear motor, a drive pulley, asecondary drive pulley, idler pulley assemblies, a v-belt, an elasticdrive belt capable of being stretched more than twice its relaxedlength, and short lengths of line or cord to attach the floating decoysto the elastic drive belt, and a power source (which can be a 12 voltD.C. battery, two 12 volt D.C. batteries connected to produce 24 voltD.C. current, or 115 volt AC converted to 12 volt DC by means of atransformer and rectifier). The decoys are preferably attached to theelastic drive belt by passing a line or cord through perforations in theelastic drive belt, or by means of a hole in a tab fastened to the drivebelt by an adhesive. The electric gear motor preferably transfers energyto the secondary drive pulley by means of a v-belt and v-belt pulley onthe drive shaft. Sprockets and roller chain can also be used. Whenenergized, the gear motor causes the secondary drive pulley to rotate ina horizontal plane with enough torque to drive one or more drive belts.

In this embodiment, the drive belt, when sufficiently stretched, willcreate enough friction on the drive pulley groove in which it is placedto cause it to travel in a continuous manner when in operation. Thedirection of travel can be reversed by changing the polarity at thepower source or by means of an electrical switch. The speed of travel isdetermined by the pitch diameter of the primary drive pulley and thepitch diameter of the corresponding groove in the secondary drive pulleyon which the v-belt runs and by the diameter of the groove in thesecondary in which the drive belt is positioned. A large pitch diameterpulley on the drive shaft and a smaller corresponding pitch diametergroove on the secondary drive pulley results in a faster speed and viceversa. Moving the drive belt to a smaller or larger diameter groove willprovide for additional travel speed options.

In operation of this preferred embodiment, the system creates theillusion of a number of waterfowl swimming in a natural random manner.

In this embodiment, the elastic properties of the drive belt furtherenhance the realistic appearance of the decoys by enabling some totravel at different speeds. This is caused by the potential energy inthe drive belt when a decoy encounters an obstruction that impedes itstravel. The belt continues to stretch until sufficient energy is builtup to

overcome the obstacle, at which time that decoy and those close to itwill move at a faster rate than those on a more distant part of the beltuntil the drive belt again returns to its original state of tension.This unusual motion produces disturbances in the water in a localizedarea as other decoys continue to move about in the normal manner and istypical of the motion created by live waterfowl.

In this embodiment, the elastic properties of the drive belt may alsoallow the system to remain in operation after the drive belt has comeoff of one of the idler pulleys which can be caused by floating debriscommon in places where hunting takes place. This allows the sportsman tocontinue hunting unimpeded until he desires to correct the malfunction.

With this embodiment, the elastic properties of the drive belt render itpractical to use dogs for the retrieval of downed game without fear ofentanglement or of causing the system to malfunction. Hunters wadingalso present no problem.

-   -   FIG. 1 is a top view of a single drive belt system 10 as seen        from above with waterfowl decoys 12 moving in various directions        in a continuous manner. The system depicted in such FIG. 1        includes a single drive assembly 14, a number of idler pulley        assemblies 16, an elastic drive belt 18, and such waterfowl        decoys 12 connected to such elastic drive belt by conventional        means (not shown). In the embodiment depicted, the elastic drive        belt 18 preferably is continuous. The direction of travel, in        such embodiment, is illustrated by arrows 20 that, in the        embodiment depicted, often depict different directions of travel        for different sections of the continuous drive belt 18. As will        be apparent, the direction of travel may be reversed.

FIG. 2 is a view of a double drive system 30 as seen from above withdecoys moving in various directions in a continuous manner. The systemincludes a double drive assembly 32, a number idler pulley assemblies16, two elastic drive belts 18, 19, and waterfowl decoys 12.

In the preferred embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, a double drive assembly32 is employed to move two elastic drive belts (18 and 19) in thedifferent directions indicated by arrows 20. The direction(s) of travelmay be reversed as desired by the user.

As will be apparent, the system 30 allows one to deploy twice as manydecoys 12 and have them move in various directions, and/or at the samespeed, and/or at different speeds with one gear motor 62 (not shown inFIG. 2 but see, e.g., FIG. 5).

FIG. 3 is a view as seen from above of a single drive system 40 with aquadruple idler pulley assembly 42. The quadruple idler pulley assembly42 helps reduce the time necessary to deploy the motion system byquickly establishing a center 43 about which the other single idlerassemblies 16 can be positioned, and can reduce the total number ofpieces one carries to the field. As will be apparent, in place of thequadruple idler pulley assembly 42 one may use a triple idler pulleyassembly (not shown) and/or a quintuple idler pulley assembly (notshown) and/or a hextuple idler pulley assembly (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a view as seen from above of a single drive system 50 with amultiplicity of double idler pulley assemblies 52; in the preferredembodiment depicted, two such assemblies are shown. The double idlerpulley assemblies 52 are useful to speed up deployment but offerdeployment options not available with the quadruple idler assembly 42(see FIG. 3) since they can positioned at greater distances from eachother.

FIG. 5 is a side and bottom view of a preferred single drive assembly 14that may be used, e.g., in the system depicted in FIG. 1. In thepreferred embodiment depicted, the single drive assembly 14 is composedof a drive motor 62 that, preferably, is an electric drive motor. Thesetypes of drive motors are well known and are described, e.g., in U.S.Pat. Nos. 3,586,940 (apparatus with electric drive motor), 4,268,768(office machine with an electric drive motor), 5,126,606 (electric drivemotor, especially for control and regulation purposes), and the like.The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is herebyincorporated by reference into this specification.

In on preferred embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5, drive motor 62 is anelectric gear motor that is wired to run on 12 or 24 volt direct current(“DC”). One may use the electric gear motors known to those skilled inthe art such as, e.g., the electric gear motors described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 2,976,438 (electric gear motor drive unit), 5,447,477 (electricgear motor with epicyclical reduction and automatic brake), 7,308,904(electric gear motor drive for switching valve), and the like. Theentire disclosure of each of these United States patents is herebyincorporated by reference into this specification.

Referring again to FIG. 5, and in the preferred embodiment depictedtherein, the drive motor 62 is preferably attached to the assembly bymeans of bolts (not shown) through the mounting plate 64 which is weldedto the vertical support 66. The vertical support 66 preferably istubular and has sufficient inside dimensions to allow it to be placedover a stake (not shown) driven into the bottom of a body of water (notshown in FIG. 5) and fastened thereto by means of hand screw 68.

The vertical support 66 is preferably of sufficient length to allow thelower part of the assembly to be positioned beneath the surface of thewater at a depth which the hunter desires and which allows the drivemotor 62 to be above the waterline.

In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5, the vertical support 66 issquare steel tubing; other shapes such as round tubing canadvantageously be used.

In one embodiment, instead of being constructed of steel, the verticalsupport 66 is made of other materials, such as aluminum, which makes theassembly lighter and easier to transport.

One may use conventional means to fasten the assembly such as, e.g.,stakes. The stakes used to fasten the assembly in a vertical positioncan be of any material with the necessary physical properties. SteelT-posts as sold in farm supply stores for fencing are readily availableand relatively inexpensive and are particularly suited to thisapplication due to their strength and availability in various lengths.

The motor 62 is preferably connected to the drive shaft 72 by means of ashaft coupling 74. The drive shaft 72 is preferably supported on thelower end by means of a bearing 76 which also reduces friction.

Referring again to FIG. 5, and to the preferred embodiment depictedtherein, it will be seen that the primary drive pulley 78 is attached tothe drive shaft 72 by means of set screw. The secondary drive pulley 80is preferably connected to the horizontal support 82 by means of a bolt84 through a vertical hollow shaft 88 of a length approximately ⅛″longer than the thickness of the pulley 80 about which it can rotatefreely when properly secured.

The bolt 84 is preferably screwed into a v-belt tensioner 94. The v-belt96 is tensioned by loosening the bolt 84 and turning the tensioning bolt92 until the desired tension is achieved and then bolt 84 is tightenedsecurely.

A plastic flat washer 90, approximately 1/16 inch thick, is placed underthe secondary drive pulley 80 to reduce friction on the horizontalsupport 82; and another metal flat washer 86 with an outside diametergreater than the diameter of the hollow shaft 88 is placed under thehead of bolt 84 to retain the secondary drive pulley 80.

The horizontal support 82 is preferably attached to the vertical support66 by means of two bolts. The assembly is secured to a mounting stake bymeans of a hand screw 68. When the motor 62 is energized, the driveshaft 72 and primary drive pulley 78 are caused to rotate in ahorizontal plane. When the primary drive pulley 78 is connected to thecorresponding groove in the secondary drive pulley 80 it will also becaused to rotate.

The elastic drive belt 18 (see FIG. 1) can then be placed on either ofthe top two grooves and, when properly tensioned, will also rotate.

The speed of the elastic drive belt 18 can be increased by moving itfrom the smaller diameter groove at the top of the secondary drivepulley 80 to the larger diameter groove beneath it and vice versa. Thev-belt 96, primary drive pulley 78 and the portion of the secondarydrive pulley 80 beneath the center groove, is covered by a guard (notshown) to prevent personal injury and entanglement.

One may use other and/or additional means for varying the speed. Furthervariations in speed can be achieved by replacing the primary drivepulley 78 with one of a larger or smaller pitch diameter.

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the side and bottom of a double driveassembly 32. In this embodiment depicted, parts 102 have been utilizedto provide for the securing of a plate to the horizontal support 82 bymeans of bolts. Part 104 has been modified by replacing the bearing 76with a tapped hole to facilitate securing pulleys 78 a (see FIG. 7B) bymeans of a bolt through a hollow shaft 124 (FIG. 7B) about which it canrotate freely. Pulleys 78 a are preferably of one piece construction;or, if two pulleys are used, they should be securely connected to insurethat they will rotate together.

An idler pulley 112 (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) may be utilized to allowadjustment of the tension of the auxiliary v-belt 120 which is placed inthe top grooves of pulleys 78, and 78 a. Pulley 112 is preferablysecured to block 116 by means of a bolt through a hollow shaft 126 aboutwhich it can rotate freely.

Referring again to FIGS. 7A and 7B, Block 116 is secured to plate 114 bymeans of a bolt and flat washer. Plate 114 is slotted to allow block 116to move when the adjusting screw 118 is turned. When the auxiliaryv-belt 120 is properly tensioned, the bolt through the hollow shaft istightened securely. In this device, when it is properly connected, therotating force supplied by the drive shaft 72 is transferred from pulley78 by means of an auxiliary v-belt 120 to pulley 78 a.

Referring again to FIG. 7A, when v-belts 96 and 96 a are in place andproperly tensioned, pulleys 80 will also rotate when the drive shaft 72turns. With the additional secondary drive pulley 80 one can now deploya double system as seen in FIG. 2 without the addition of a second drivemotor 62.

FIG. 8 is a side and bottom view of an idler pulley assembly 16. In theembodiment depicted, the vertical support 132 is preferably tubular andcan be secured to a mounting stake by means of hand screw 68.

Referring to FIG. 8, and in the preferred embodiment depicted therein,the horizontal support 136 is preferably made of steel bar channel andis attached to the vertical support 132 by means of a bolt and lockingnut. The bolt and locking nut are preferably tightened in a manner toallow the horizontal support 136 to pivot freely. This allows theassembly to be easily folded for transport.

Referring again to FIG. 8, stop block 134 is welded to the verticalsupport 132 to limit travel when deployed. This pivoting feature allowsthe system to be to some degree self leveling when the drive belt 18 isproperly tensioned. The horizontal support 136 could be made of othermaterials or of other shapes; thus e.g., it could be made of aluminum ifa lighter weight system was desired.

The vertical shaft 138 is preferably welded to the horizontal support136 on the under side and has a tapped hole in the upper end as shown.The idler pulley 140 is preferably attached to the vertical shaft 138 bymeans of a bolt 144 with a flat belt retaining disc 142 under the head.The non-rotating belt retaining disc 142 should preferably have anoutside diameter approximately 1 inch greater than the diameter of theidler pulley 140. The exposed portion of shaft 138 should be at least1/16 inch longer than the thickness of the pulley 140. Pulley 140 mustbe able to rotate freely about the shaft 138 when properly secured.

Referring to FIG. 8, the belt retaining assembly 142, in the embodimentdepicted, has a substantially circular cross-sectional shape, and it issecured with bolt 144 that extends through hole 145 and through a hole(not shown) in the pulley 140 into the tapped hole 147 of vertical shaft138. In one aspect of this embodiment, the pulley 138 is free to rotateabout the shaft 138, but the belt retaining assembly 142 is fixed inplace and is not capable of rotating.

In addition to using a belt retaining assembly 142 with a substantiallycircular shape (see FIG. 8), one may use a comparable belt retainingassembly 143 with a non-circular cross-sectional shape whose “aspectratio” (i.e., the ratio of the maximum dimension of such cross-sectionalshape to the minimum dimension thereof) is at least about 1.3. One suchdevice 143 is illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

The minimum cross-sectional dimension of the belt retaining assembly(e.g., the diameter of assembly 142, or dimension 149 of assembly 143)is preferably at least about 0.7 inches greater than the diameter of thepulley 142 and, more preferably, should be at least about 1.0 inchesgreater than the diameter of the pulley 142.

During field testing it was discovered that, in the embodiment withoutthe belt retaining assembly, the elastic belt had a tendency to grip thegrooved portion of the idler pulleys with sufficient force to enable itto move to the outside diameter. When the belt traveled in a downwarddirection (bottom of the pulley) it would eventually contact thehorizontal support and go no farther. If it traveled in an upwarddirection (top of the pulley) it would eventually reach the majordiameter of the pulley and, meeting no resistance, would jump off, thuscausing a malfunction. The belt retaining assembly, when employed abovethe idler pulleys, provides a stationary point of contact preventing thebelt from jumping off while not interfering with the decoy tethers asthey pass around the pulley.

The idler pulley assembly 16 can easily be folded (as shown in FIG. 9)to facilitate transport.

FIG. 10 is a side and bottom view of a double idler pulley assembly 52;and FIG. 11 is a view of the double idler pulley assembly 52 in thetransport position.

FIG. 12 is a view as seen from above of a quadruple idler pulleyassembly 42. This assembly may also be folded to facilitate transport.The variations of the idler assemblies depicted in FIGS. 10, 11, and 12are preferably constructed in the same manner described elsewhere inthis specification with additional supports 136 and additional idlerpulleys 140 being the primary differences. It is preferred that thevertical support(s) be of sufficient length to allow the lower part ofthe assembly to be placed beneath the surface of the water at thedesired depth.

The elastic drive belt 18 (see e.g., FIG. 1) is preferably made from anelastomeric material. As is known to those skilled in the art, anelastomer is a polymeric material, such as synthetic rubber or plastic,which at room temperature can be stretched under low stress to at leasttwice its original length and, upon immediate release of the stress,will return with force to its approximate original length.

Elastomeric belts are well known to those skilled in the art. Referencemay be had, e.g., to U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,337 (apparatus for curingendless electrometric belts), U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,426 (method for curingendless electrometric belts), U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,332 (endlesselectrometric belt), U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,339 (mobile constructivevehicle driven by track assemblies using continuous electrometricbelts), U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,878 (flexible coupling with electrometricbelt), and the like.

In one preferred embodiment, the electrometric material used in thedrive belt 18 is a synthetic rubber material. Synthetic rubberelastomers are well known. Reference may be had, e.g., to U.S. Pat. No.3,959,545 (high green strength synthetic rubber product), U.S. Pat. No.4,477,612 (lignin reinforced synthetic rubber), U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,607(synthetic rubber with guayule resin stabilization), U.S. Pat. No.6,855,791 (vulcanization of natural and synthetic rubber compounds), andthe like. The entire disclosure of each of these United States patentsis hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.

In one embodiment, the belt 18 is made from EPDM rubber. EPDM(ethylene-propylene-diene monomer) is particularly suited to thisoutdoor application due its resistance to water and aging and the factthat it maintains flexibility at low temperatures. It has a stretchlimit of 300% of its relaxed length and a high tensile strength.

EPDM rubber is well known to those skilled in the art. Reference may behad, e.g., to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,492,371 (electrometric blends comprisingEPDM rubber), 4,128,523 (polyethylene-EPDM compositions), and the like.The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is herebyincorporated by reference in to this specification.

Physical Properties of the Belt 18

In one embodiment, the preferred belt 18 has an elongation to break offrom 300 percent to 600 percent. In one aspect of this embodiment, thetensile strength of the preferred belt 18 is from about 800 pounds persquare inch to about 3000 pounds per square inch.

The cross sectional dimensions of the preferred belt 18 are⅛″×thick×0.5″; it is preferred that such belt 18 have a substantiallyrectangular cross-sectional shape. The ends of the belt 18 can be joinedby means of vulcanizing, by the use of an adhesive designed for thismaterial, and/or in an emergency the ends may be tied in a square knotto form a continuous circle or belt.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show two methods of attaching the decoy lines to thedrive belt 18. In the upper view, holes 192 are punched through thecenter of the drive belt 18 to accommodate the decoy line. The preferreddecoy line 196 is made of round synthetic rubber or PVC cord and isconnected by means of metal crimps 198 as shown. Both items are readilyavailable from sporting goods stores. Line or cord of other types couldbe used and tied with knots.

In the lower view, another method is illustrated which is a thin pieceof the synthetic rubber material 194 attached to the drive belt 18 bymeans of an adhesive designed for the material. The decoy line or cordscan then be attached to the drive belt 18 in the manner described above.The holes 192 or synthetic rubber strips 194 can be punched or glued tothe drive belt 18 at intervals to accommodate the desired number ofdecoys.

The pursuit of waterfowl has been a human endeavor for thousands ofyears. Thus, e.g., ancient North American artifacts have been recoveredwhich indicate that native Americans were using decoys made of hollowreeds to lure waterfowl long before the first European set foot upon thecontinent.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the inventiondescribed in the preceding sections of this specification is especiallyadvantageous for hunting waterfowl. Waterfowl by nature are gregarious,frequently gathering in large flocks. They have a sophisticated means ofvocal communication and when hunted are extremely wary.

Hunters use two basic methods, concealment and enticement, to take thesewary birds. Typically a hunter will conceal himself near a place wherehe believes they frequent and then attempt to entice the birds into gunrange by use of decoys and duck or goose calls to imitate the soundsmade by live waterfowl.

The invention described in this specification makes possible a moreeffective means of deploying decoys. Normally decoys are attached to ananchor and placed in groups near the place of concealment. The presentstate of the art of decoy manufacturing makes available decoys of veryhigh quality that resemble the various species in great detail. Whendeployed in this manner, the decoys may look like the live birds inshape and color but are otherwise dependent upon wind or current toproduce any movement which greatly aids the hunter in his attempteddeception.

The motion system of this invention enables a hunter to put in motion alarge number of decoys and to effectively imitate live birds swimming ina natural manner. The system preferably employs a non-submersibleelectric drive motor to propel an elastic drive belt in a continuouscircuit to which single decoys or small groups of decoys connectedtogether are attached. The elastic qualities of the drive belt make itpossible to deploy this system in approximately twenty to thirty minutesand to take it up in about half as much time. This is a degree ofportability not presently available for a system capable of providinglifelike motion to several dozen decoys.

This system requires no precise placement of supports for the drive beltand can easily be routed around obstacles, such as clumps of grass orbrush, that are commonly found in flooded areas waterfowl frequent. Theelastic drive belt is quickly repairable by means of adhesives designedfor the material which are readily available in hardware and departmentstores and which are relatively inexpensive. The speed and ease ofrepairing a belt makes it practical for a hunter to intentionally cut itin order to route it through trees or brush to further enhance theillusion of waterfowl swimming in a natural manner in and out of floodedtimber. The route or path of travel of the drive belt can be quickly andeasily changed by moving a support(s) to a new location(s). When thedrive belt is properly tensioned the system will, in most cases,continue to function after the belt has come off of one of the idlerpulleys, allowing a sportsman to continue hunting unimpeded until hedesires to correct the malfunction. With this system it is possible forhunters to safely wade through it and for dogs to retrieve downed birdswithout fear of injury or of damaging the system.

In one preferred embodiment, the supports for the drive motor assemblyand the idler pulley assemblies are preferably adjustable up and down toenable the hunter to position the drive belt and attach the decoys abovethe waterline which adds to the speed and comfort of deployment.

In summary, this invention described in this specification provideswaterfowl hunters with a portable, durable, easily deployed means ofproviding lifelike motion to a number of waterfowl decoys.

1. A waterfowl decoy motion system comprising a multiplicity of movabledecoys, a primary drive pulley, a secondary drive pulley, an electricmotor connected to said secondary drive pulley, and a multiplicity ofidler puller assemblies, wherein each of said idler puller assemblies iscomprised of a horizontal support, a vertical shaft connected to saidhorizontal support, an idler pulley disposed on said vertical shaft, anda retaining assembly disposed over said idler pulley and connected tosaid vertical shaft, wherein said retaining assembly has a minimum crosssectional dimension that is greater than the diameter of said idlerpulley.
 2. A waterfowl decoy motion system comprising a multiplicity ofmovable decoys, a first endless elastic drive belt having holes throughsaid belt for connecting to said movable decoys, a primary drive pulley,a secondary drive pulley, a electric motor connected to said secondarydrive pulley, and a multiplicity of idler puller assemblies, whereineach of said idler puller assemblies is comprised of a horizontalsupport, a vertical shaft connected to said horizontal support, an idlerpulley disposed on said vertical shaft, and a retaining assemblydisposed over said idler pulley and connected to said vertical shaft,wherein said retaining assembly has a minimum cross sectional dimensionthat is greater than the diameter of said idler pulley.
 3. The waterfowldecoy motion system as recited in claim 2, wherein said system furthercomprises a second elastic drive belt, and wherein said retainingassembly comprises a flat plate.
 4. The waterfowl decoy motion system asrecited in claim 3, wherein said first elastic drive belt has anelongation to break of from about 300 to about 600 percent.
 5. Thewaterfowl decoy motion system as recited in claim 4, wherein said firstelastic drive belt has a tensile strength of from about 800 to about3,000 pounds per square inch.
 6. The waterfowl decoy motion system asrecited in claim 5, wherein said first elastic drive belt is comprisedof an elastomeric material.
 7. The waterfowl decoy motion system asrecited in claim 6, wherein said first elastic drive belt consistsessentially of ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer rubber.
 8. The waterfowldecoy motion system as recited in claim 7, wherein said electric motoris an electric drive motor.
 9. The waterfowl decoy motion system asrecited in claim 8, wherein said electric drive motor is an electricgear motor.
 10. The waterfowl decoy motion system as recited in claim 6,further comprising means for varying the speed at which said firstelastic drive belt is moved.
 11. The waterfowl decoy motion system asrecited in claim 2, wherein said vertical shaft is comprised of a tappedhole in its upper end.
 12. The waterfowl decoy motion system as recitedin claim 11, wherein said retaining assembly is connected to saidvertical shaft by means of a bolt connected to said tapped hole in saidupper end of said vertical shaft.
 13. The waterfowl decoy motion systemas recited in claim 12, wherein said vertical shaft has a length that isgreater than the thickness of said idler pulley.